{"id":186965,"date":"2026-05-08T07:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T07:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/186965\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T07:26:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T07:26:20","slug":"philadelphia-city-council-will-explore-creating-an-elected-school-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/186965\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia City Council will explore creating an elected school board"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia\u2019s free newsletter<\/a> to keep up with the city\u2019s public school system.<\/p>\n

Members of Philadelphia\u2019s City Council will examine creating an elected school board, escalating their campaign to have more control over the city\u2019s schools.<\/p>\n

Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas introduced a resolution on Thursday to authorize the committee to conduct hearings into the school board\u2019s governance model. The resolution was privileged, meaning it was adopted by the City Council with Thomas\u2019s support.<\/p>\n

The move comes after weeks of explosive fights between Thomas and Board of Education President Reginald Streater over the district\u2019s plan to close 17 schools. The board voted 6-3 to approve that plan last week following protests<\/a> from Thomas and other councilmembers.<\/p>\n

Elected school boards can give residents more say over who controls schools, but they can also politicize the school governance process<\/a>. Researchers have found that no particular governance model is associated with improved academic outcomes for students<\/a>. School governance conversations have intensified across the country<\/a> as districts grapple with declining enrollment, school closures, and budget problems.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia law states that school board members serve \u201cat the pleasure\u201d of the mayor, unless they are elected. All members of the current board were nominated by Mayor Cherelle Parker. Most were also confirmed by City Council through a vote, except member Joyce Wilkerson. Wilkerson\u2019s presence on the school board has created tension between the City Council, Parker, and the board<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We’re here to help.<\/p>\n

Every day, Chalkbeat Philadelphia reporters are answering your questions, following the money, and digging into what’s happening in the city’s public schools. Keep up with our free newsletter, delivered every Wednesday and Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Thomas\u2019s resolution directs the Education Committee to explore options for an elected school board or a hybrid of elected and appointed members. <\/p>\n

In response to questions from Chalkbeat, Streater said in a Thursday statement the board voted to approve school closures \u201cgrounded and guided by our commitment to increasing access and opportunities for all students.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a Board, we will continue to call on our city and state partners to work alongside us to ensure that every student receives the investment and support they deserve,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The resolution calls out the board\u2019s approach to school closures \u2014 including initially scheduling a vote on the closures with only 72 hours notice \u2014 as a reason for why the governance model should change. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese actions and the context of these decisions should remind Philadelphians that the governance model of the Philadelphia Board of Education is unique among municipalities in Pennsylvania,\u201d the resolution states. \u201cConsidering a more traditional elected or hybrid model of governance may compel the Board to be more responsive to students and families\u2019 concerns than the Board has proven to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

In every Pennsylvania district except for Philadelphia, the state\u2019s largest district, school board members are elected. Those elections are partisan. Boards have key powers over districts, including hiring a superintendent, various policies, and the budget.<\/p>\n

Seven other members of the City Council cosponsored the resolution from Thomas. It does not state when the Education Committee\u2019s hearings over school governance would begin.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Redelmeier is a reporter at Chalkbeat Philadelphia. She writes about public schools, early childhood education, and issues that affect students, families, and educators across Philadelphia. Contact Rebecca at rredelmeier@chalkbeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia\u2019s free newsletter to keep up with the city\u2019s public school system. Members of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[59219,83427,24565,69,71,70,16381],"class_list":["post-186965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-board-of-education","tag-city-councilmember","tag-isaiah-thomas","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-school-closures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}